List of Tracey Takes On... characters

(top row, left to right) Ruby Romaine, Trevor Ayliss, Rayleen Gibson (second row, left to right), Sheneesha Turner, Her Royal Highness, Chic (bottom row, left to right) Birdie Godsen, Janie Pillsworth, Mrs. Noh Nang Ning

Tracey Takes On... featured Tracey Ullman playing many original characters. Unlike her previous shows where characters were very rarely repeated, Ullman came up with a recurring cast of nearly 20 characters; 24 characters over the course of the show's four-season run (18 recurring, 6 one-offs). Two characters ended up being retired: Virginia Bugge after season 2, and Mrs. Noh Nang Ning after season 3.

Three actors portrayed Virginia Bugge's husband Timmy: Michael Palin in (Tracey Ullman: A Class Act), Hugh Laurie (season 1), and Tim McInnerny (season 2). Two actors played Harry Rosenthal: Michael Tucker: (Tracey Ullman Takes On New York), seasons 1, 3, 4), George Segal (season 2).

Trevor Ayliss

Age 43. British. Trevor is a gay airline steward based out of London, Heathrow. Trevor grew up Northern England. He fathered a child with a fellow stewardess. He lives with his partner Barrington "Barry" LeTissier (Michael McKean), an antiquarian bookseller in Osterley. Trevor is a big fan of Linda Granger.

Virginia Bugge

Age 36. British. Virginia, born in Rhodesia, married to The Right Honourable Timothy Bugge (Minister of Fishing and Game), MP for Greater Diddlebury. They have two children, Tasmin and Piers, who have attended boarding school since the age of six.

Chic

Chic is a male New York City cab driver of indeterminate Middle Eastern descent, and a self-described "chick-magnet" (hence the name). Chic came to the United States illegally with his sister. He made his way around New York City knowing only two English phrases: "Are you talking to me?" and "Show me your tits!" He sold drugs in the 1970s to get his hack license. He has a brother Piki who runs a falafel stand and a cousin Momo who owns a discount carpet warehouse. Chic has had many famous celebrities in his cab. He claims to have taught John Travolta his moves for the movie Saturday Night Fever. Chic runs the only two-star cab cafe in Manhattan. Chic was the bronze medal winner at the Pan Mediterranean song Festival with his band "Teiku", for their song "Slide down my olive tree [ooh, baby, la la la]."

In a 1997 promotional advertisement for the show’s second season, Chic's name is listed as Chic Mendez.^[1] Chic's real name is an ongoing gag in the show. His license identifies him as Chic with only the first three letters (A-v-a) of his surname visible due to a sticker that says "Hot Sex" covering the rest. In "Tracey Takes On... Money", Chic is audited by an IRS agent who tries to pronounce his last name: "Okay, Mr. Abbab... Avvan?"

Kay Clark

Age 42. Kay is a spinster originally from England. She moved to the United States with her invalid mother to take advantage of the health benefits. She works at Van Nuys Savings and Loan.

Hope Finch

Age 19. Hope is an idealistic college student. She attends Sweetbriar College and resides in the Margaret Sanger Hall. She's a virgin, and although not currently a lesbian, she's "young and impressionable."

Rayleen Gibson

Age 34 (approximated by the wear on her back molars). Rayleen is an Australian stuntwoman to the stars. As a child, Rayleen was lost on a family camping trip and until the age of 10 was raised by dingos. She eventually met up with a woman (Olivia Newton-John) who saw to her education and put her in touch with film producers. She went on to meet and marry Mitch Gibson (Danny Woodburn), a little person. Rayleen and Mitch owned and ran Aged-Animal-Actors-Home (or A.A.A.H.), for retired animal actors. Mitch was killed during a freak accident on the set of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. At his funeral, Rayleen learned that Mitch had been previously married and never bothered to divorce his former wife. Rayleen with nothing but Mitch's ashes (which she gave a good sendoff) and a beat up old truck.

Birdie Godsen

Age 42. Birdie is a right-wing devout Christian fundamentalist homemaker. Her husband Robert is a tobacco industry executive. Birdie homeschools their seven children to prevent them from being exposed to multicultural programs and teaches them subjects that will be useful to them in their daily lives: reading, writing, arithmetic, religion, marksmanship and taxidermy. The family lives on Dan Quayle Drive in a 'graceful gated community' in Atlanta, Georgia. Birdie is aunt to Chris Warner. She has a twin brother, Sandy who runs a homosexual deprogramming center, Straight Ways. Birdie sells Militia M'Lady products in her spare time and also looks out for black government helicopters flying overhead (she has weaponry in her backyard to shoot them down if need be).

Linda Granger

Age varies. Linda is an actress, singer, dancer and author. Linda starred as Vickie Starr in the hit 1970s television series VIP Lounge. She has a tell-all autobiography entitled, I'm Still Here! My lifelong Battle with Alcoholism, Disease, and Personal Misfortune... which details her battles with everything from drugs, alcoholism, cancer, to eating disorders. Linda is also a recovering sex addict. She has one child, a daughter named Marmalade, who she secretly gave up for adoption (to sustain her public image) and then later re-adopted. Marmalade's father is unknown. Her manager Candy Casino (Seymour Cassel) helps run her life.

Her Royal Highness

Age 57. HRH derives enormous pleasure from making everyone around her as uncomfortable as possible. Her private secretary, Captain Philip St. Aubyn (a.k.a. Pip, played by Alastair Duncan) is always on hand to assist her.

Sydney Kross

Age not available ("It's illegal to ask that question.") A ruthless and charmless high-profile Beverly Hills attorney. Her motto is "You name it, I'll sue it."

Erin McColl

Age 47. Erin is the former lead singer of the 1970s band Wisechild. Erin depends on her manager Dusty (Mo Gaffney) for guidance.

Madam Nadja

Age 60. Nadja is originally from Romania and is now a Hollywood madam who conducts all her business from her bed. She was great friends with Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu, and was at one time his mistress. Her parrot Vlad talks to her.

Mrs. Noh Nang Ning

Age 70. Mrs. Noh Nang Ning owns a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Yankee Doodle Donuts, and is of indeterminate Asian origin. She is a hard-working and patriotic American who relates everything to the circle (or doughnut). Noh Nang grew up as an orphan in her homeland, married a prince, but escaped to America when a revolution broke out. She works long hours and finds little time for pleasantries (playing Paigow in Vegas). However, she does make time to sponsor her granddaughter Kim in ice skating competitions.

Janie Pillsworth

Age 37. Janie is originally from England, she is now a New York fashion magazine editor. She was educated at a prestigious British boarding school thanks to her father, Frank who sacrificed his kidney to pay her tuition. Janie disowned her parents for years until an ill-fated family reunion rekindled their relationship. After her father died, Janie let her mother Jackie, who also acts as a live-in nanny, live with her.

Ruby Romaine

Age 72. A Hollywood makeup artist (one of the oldest still working in the union) who's seen it all; she worked heavily during Hollywood's heyday. Ruby drinks and smokes heavily. She takes care of her shell-shocked Vietnam veteran son Buddy, along with her cat Duke and their Vietnamese pot belly pig, Oinky. Ruby has one daughter, Desiree.

Fern Rosenthal

Age 56. Fern is a Jewish homemaker, originally from Long Island. After 37 years of marriage, Fern convinced her husband Harry to retire to Boca Raton, Florida after he suffers a heart attack. Harry was the owner of a chain of 17 discount pharmacies. They have one daughter, Sheila and a grandson, Ryan. Fern's closest friend (sometimes rival) is condo board president Jobie Wolffe (Julie Kavner). Harry was thought to have been eaten by an alligator on a golf course, but Fern soon discovered that Harry had been having an affair with their maid and the two had run off together and were living in Belize. Fern tracked Harry down and altercation resulted in Harry being eaten alive by a shark.

Sheneesha Turner

Age 34. Sheneesha is an African-American airport security guard. Sheneesha, along with her friends and co-workers, Hellura (Adele Givens) and Ida work the metal detector. Sheneesha has given birth to seven children despite years of standing next to the airport’s X-ray machine. She has severe blood pressure issues that requires medication. She loves nothing more than to give passengers a "Body search!"

Chris Warner

Age 32. Chris, a lesbian, originally from Barstow, Texas, is the girlfriend of golf pro Midge Dexter (Julie Kavner), and niece to Birdie Godsen and Birdie’s twin brother, Sandy, a Christian fundamentalist preacher who runs a homosexual deprogramming center, Straight Ways. Chris put her career as a step aerobics instructor on hold in order to travel the country with Midge. The pair made headlines with their public display of affection on the 18th green following Midge's win.

One-off characters

References

Sources

External links

• Tracey takes on... Characters' Lounge at the Wayback Machine (archived June 23, 1998)
• Tracey Takes On... The Characters at the Wayback Machine (archived September 25, 2000)